Word Power Ch. 1-9

Front 1

ape

Back 1

v: to attempt an overly exact imitation and ending up with negative or laughable results

Front 2

dun

Back 2

v: to insist on the payment of a debt

Front 3

fop

Back 3

n: a man who, in mainstream opinion, is too concerned with his looks and his clothes

Front 4

gad

Back 4

v: to move about, travel, usually in a kind of aimless way; usually mildly critical

Front 5

hex

Back 5

n, v: an evil spell, or to put an evil spell on someone

Front 6

ken

Back 6

n: refers to your understanding, the limits of your knowledge

Front 7

pox

Back 7

n: bad luck; used to be used as a "polite" term for a sexually transmitted disease

Front 8

sow

Back 8

v, n: to plant a seed, literally or figuratively, or a female pig

Front 9

vex

Back 9

to annoy or perplex; usually used for small matters

Front 10

vie

Back 10

to compete, contend

Front 11

amalgamation

Back 11

n: to mix or combine into a unified whole; verb form is "to amalgamate"

Front 12

admixture

Back 12

n: mixture

Front 13

eclectic

Back 13

adj: made up from a variety of sources; noun form is "eclecticism"

Front 14

catholic

Back 14

adj: comprehensive or of broad scope

Front 15

motley

Back 15

adj: composed of a variety of sources

Front 16

corroborate

Back 16

v: to bring in new evidence to strengthen or support an idea or argument; noun form is "corroboration"

Front 17

asunder

Back 17

adv: apart or into separate pieces; it is only used to describe how something is done

Front 18

diaspora

Back 18

n: any dispersion of a people from their original homeland or any dispersion of a language or culture

Front 19

cleave

Back 19

v: to split or to cut or penetrate, noun form is "cleft" and the past tense is "clove". Also, to stick to or to be faithful to with the past tense being "cleaved".

Front 20

disseminate

Back 20

v: to scatter widely or to disperse

Front 21

aphrodisiac

Back 21

n,adj: refers to food or drugs that allegedly make men and women feel more amorous

Front 22

chthonic

Back 22

adj: referring to the underworld

Front 23

autochthonous

Back 23

adj: on native ground, originating where found

Front 24

hector

Back 24

v: to bully or to try to force someone to do something

Front 25

hermetic

Back 25

adj: describing something that is air tight or referring to a pseudo-science

Front 26

junoesque

Back 26

adj: describes a woman who is unusually tall and stately and so beautiful as to seem divine

Front 27

mecurial

Back 27

adj: describes someone whose moods change very rapidly

Front 28

mnemonic

Back 28

adj,n: refers to memory or relating to memory, noun form refers to memory in general

Front 29

muse

Back 29

v: to lose yourself in your thoughts, perhaps awaiting inspiration

Front 30

bemuse

Back 30

v: to passively gotten to a state of unfocused thinking

Front 31

odyssey

Back 31

n: a long trip, either figurative or literal

Front 32

saturnine

Back 32

adj: gloomy or even bitterly sarcastic and mocking

Front 33

magnanimous

Back 33

adj: extremely generous and forgiving and courageously noble in mind and heart; noun form is magnanimity

Front 34

parsimonious

Back 34

adj: excessively stingy; noun form is parsimony

Front 35

prodigal

Back 35

adj: extremely wasteful or extravagant or lavishly abundant; noun form is prodigality

Front 36

penurious

Back 36

adj: stingy, unwilling to spend money and, poverty-stricken or destitute; noun form is penury

Front 37

eleemosynary

Back 37

adj: contributing to charity and dependent upon charity

Front 38

frugal

Back 38

adj: extremely economical, synonym for thrifty

Front 39

munificent

Back 39

adj: very generous in giving; noun form is munificence

Front 40

avaricious

Back 40

adj: greedy or desirous of gain; noun form is avarice

Front 41

mean

Back 41

adj: miserly and stingy or low in value

Front 42

indulgent

Back 42

adj: lenient or willing to gratify

Front 43

equine

Back 43

adj: anything bearing the characteristics of horses, asses, or zebras

Front 44

bovine

Back 44

adj: relating to the characteristics of cows, oxen, or buffaloes

Front 45

lupine

Back 45

adj: ravenous or rapacious (greedily taking by force), having the characteristics of a wolf

Front 46

ursine

Back 46

adj: bear-like, usually a physical description

Front 47

porcine

Back 47

adj: resembling a swine or a pig, either physically or behaviorally

Front 48

simian

Back 48

adj: resembling an ape or a monkey

Front 49

serpentine

Back 49

adj: snake-like in behavior (sly and tempting) or physically resembling a snake

Front 50

pachyderm

Back 50

n: refers to a group of large, thick-skinned, hoofed animals that includes the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus

Front 51

avian

Back 51

adj: having the characteristics of birds

Front 52

herpetology

Back 52

n: the study of reptiles and amphibians

Front 53

laconic

Back 53

adj: sometimes used to describe a writing style, more often used for those who say little

Front 54

taciturn

Back 54

adj: saying little, sometimes implying a grudging conversational style

Front 55

lapidary

Back 55

adj: characterizes precision in wording, more often applies to writing than to speaking

Front 56

pithy

Back 56

adj: compliment for a style of word use that is both brief and forceful

Front 57

succinct

Back 57

adj: concise speaking or writing

Front 58

terse

Back 58

adj: brief, to the point

Front 59

garrulous

Back 59

adj: talking a great deal, or too much

Front 60

prattling

Back 60

adj: to chatter meaninglessly

Front 61

glib

Back 61

adj: speaking without thought, or being insincere

Front 62

prolix

Back 62

adj: a wordiness of manner, a pouring forth of too many words or phrases; most often referring to writing

Front 63

maundering

Back 63

adj: when you just keep going when you could have won praise for being more concise

Front 64

indigenous

Back 64

adj: people or things that are native to a region

Front 65

interloper

Back 65

n: someone, or something, who intrudes where they aren't wanted

Front 66

extraneous

Back 66

adj: coming from the outside, irrelevant or unimportant

Front 67

inherent

Back 67

adj: stuck into the nature of the thing, integral to its being

Front 68

germane

Back 68

adj: relevant or suitable or closely connected

Front 69

pariah

Back 69

n: a social outcast, someone not accepted in his or her society

Front 70

endemic

Back 70

adj: native or common to or peculiar to a specific region or abstract area

Front 71

intrinsic

Back 71

adj: inward, innate

Front 72

ostracize

Back 72

v: expelling a person from a community either literally or figuratively

Front 73

tangential

Back 73

adj: something slightly touching or barely connected

Front 74

ominous

Back 74

adj: a foreshadowing of the future, always describes the threatening, the menacing

Front 75

portentous

Back 75

adj: something carrying a sign, a portent, of threats of the future; also describing the pretentiously weighty, the pompous

Front 76

inauspicious

Back 76

adj: predicts or suggests something negative

Front 77

imminent

Back 77

adj: something about to occur

Front 78

impending

Back 78

adj: refers to the near arrival of something, threatening or not

Front 79

minatory

Back 79

adj: threatening

Front 80

presage

Back 80

v: refers to a forewarning, an ominous feeling, a prediction

Front 81

bode, forebode

Back 81

v: referring to an omen; intensifies that presentiment

Front 82

propitiate

Back 82

v: actions to appease or calm forces that might oppose a favorable outcome

Front 83

harbinger

Back 83

n: a forerunner, an early warning

Front 84

squander

Back 84

v: wasting

Front 85

dissipation

Back 85

n: a literal scattering or dispersing and a specialized sense of scattering one's energy through immoderate pursuit of trivial pleasures

Front 86

disenfranchise

Back 86

v,n: to lose the right to vote

Front 87

forfeiture

Back 87

n: expresses the idea of a penalty, a giving up of something in one's possession

Front 88

denude

Back 88

v: to make bare, primarily used of trees that lose their leaves

Front 89

privation

Back 89

n: deprived of basic necessities or comforts

Front 90

divest

Back 90

v: getting rid of; noun form is divestiture

Front 91

renounce

Back 91

v: to give something up

Front 92

elegiac

Back 92

adj: a feeling of sadness at many types of losses

Front 93

bereave

Back 93

v: to leave desolate, usually by death